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Moon landing movie stirs controversy by leaving out American flag
One small step for man, one giant sh*tstorm for the internet. A new Canadian-directed Neil Armstrong biopic drew fierce criticism after it left out the iconic planting of the star-spangled banner on the moon.
‘First Man’ opened to rave reviews from audiences at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday for Canadian actor Ryan Gosling’s portrayal of astronaut Neil Armstrong. Faithfully depicting the 1969 moon landing, the movie did leave out one important detail: Armstrong’s planting of the American flag, which still stands motionless on the moon today.
American flags could be seen in the background in several shots, but the omission still rankled American viewers. How could Hollywood write such a towering American achievement out of history?
Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) led the charge. “This is total lunacy,” he tweeted. “The American people paid for that mission,on rockets built by Americans,with American technology & carrying American astronauts. It wasn’t a UN mission.”
This is total lunacy. And a disservice at a time when our people need reminders of what we can achieve when we work together. The American people paid for that mission,on rockets built by Americans,with American technology & carrying American astronauts. It wasn’t a UN mission. https://t.co/eGwBq7hj8C
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 31, 2018
Others jumped in to vent their anger at this piece of “revisionist PC history bullsh*t.”
We literally declared a mission to go to the moon to plant the American flag. It wasn't an afterthought. It was the point of the endeavor. https://t.co/dxaXW45Pfm
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 31, 2018
I was looking forward to seeing the movie as I remember the date when the AMERICAN FLAG was planted on the moon, but as ARMSTRONG said "One small step for MAN, one GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND. Without AMERICA providing the platform, the MOON LANDING wouldn't have taken place then
— Michael Murdock
